Chapter 2488: Difficult Progress

Regarding everything Xia Duo proposed about requiring prior authorization for all actions related to the Seven Towers' executive power, Zhenna did not view it favorably. If the Seven Towers agreed to this clause, what use would they have for their current executive status? Wouldn't it be the same if other people or other factions took over?

No one is willing to have the power in their hands restricted at every turn, and the Seven Towers are even more so.

However, Zhenna still held some expectations for the prospect Xia Duo proposed. If such a scenario could truly be realized, perhaps Netheril would become better, who knows.

"Lord Xia Duo, I will convey your opinion to the Seven Towers, but I cannot guarantee whether the Seven Towers will agree to it."

"In my hometown, there is a saying: 'To bear the nation's disgrace is to be the master of the state; to bear the nation's misfortune is to be the king of the world.'"

Xia Duo first recited a sage's saying in Chinese, then explained under Zhenna's confused gaze: "The general meaning of this sentence is that only those who can bear all unfavorable factors are qualified to be called kings.

"The Seven Towers' past executive status originated from their role as pioneers, having made huge contributions to the birth of this country and having paid huge sacrifices.

"But the conservative atmosphere and the stagnation of magic development over the past hundred years show that the Seven Towers have not fulfilled this sacred duty entrusted to them by everyone very well.

"As kings, they are unqualified!"

Xia Duo said this quite heavily, which was actually his true inner thought. Zhenna seemed to want to say something, but Xia Duo did not give her the chance to speak, instead continuing immediately:

"I believe President Zhenna already understands the cause and origin of this incident. Although a definite result has not been argued out yet, in all fairness, is the Seven Towers' approach really good?

"Should the descendants of the pioneers of those three Sub-planes be confined to such a small piece of land for all eternity?

"Why did the Seven Towers propose to renegotiate the Seville Covenant? Isn't it because their previous actions have already seriously violated many principles of the Old Covenant! And this has essentially endangered the legitimacy of their executive status!

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"That is why they proposed such a plan, wanting to turn the page on the past completely, and even taking the opportunity to integrate the whole of Netheril. If we don't take this opportunity to restrict their power now, are we to wait until the next Sweetwater Three Planes incident occurs?

"Only when the next incident occurs, the protagonists suffering might just be you or me!"

After Xia Duo finished speaking, he said no more. He had said everything he should have. If Zhenna could take it to heart, she should support restricting the Seven Towers' power in the upcoming consultations between the Seven Towers and other Great Arcanists.

As he said, now is the best opportunity to do this, by writing the relevant content directly into the Seville Covenant. Otherwise, once the Seven Towers come to their senses, they will inevitably be able to calmly maneuver and obstruct similar motions.

After Zhenna left, Xia Duo did not sit and wait for Yinaole to return, but actively contacted other Great Arcanists to probe their views on the Seven Towers' plan.

All in all, almost everyone expressed satisfaction with the Seven Towers' concessions, and their attitude toward the retention of the Seven Towers' executive status was more of indifference.

After all, based on past experience, there was not much the Seven Towers could do even if they retained their executive status, and their words showed no foresight for the development of the future situation.

But when Xia Duo proposed those two principles regarding the division of boundaries between the Seven Towers' power and the lords' power, almost everyone showed unusual interest.

Even Weide, who currently had no Territory and was residing in a student's territory, expressed extraordinary approval of Xia Duo's proposal, and even said he was prepared to become a Pioneer after the New Covenant was signed.

The only one who held reservations about this was Kelifu. However, due to reasons of Faith, Xia Duo could understand, but he still hoped that Kelifu could break free from the shackles of Faith and recognize the significance of transcending order.

In the following few days, the Seven Towers ended their private consultations with Yinaole and began consultations with other Great Arcanists; the latter was actually already discussing the specific Seven Towers' plan.

The representative sent by the Seven Towers to consult with Xia Duo was, as expected, Huo En. In fact, Xia Duo had some expectations that the Seven Towers would send Sikumu, so he could speak without any scruples.

But with Huo En, the two had some friendship, although not much, it did exist, which made Xia Duo a bit more cautious when speaking.

And this stage of consultation was much more troublesome than when Yinaole consulted alone. Although it was the Seven Towers talking separately, it was actually the greatest common divisor of the opinions of many Great Arcanists.

Besides having objections to the division of boundaries between the Seven Towers' power and the lords' power in the Seven Towers' plan, Xia Duo also had many other points that needed to be discussed, making progress extremely difficult.

The issues he confirmed with the Seven Towers might not be agreed upon when put to another Great Arcanist, and correspondingly, other Great Arcanists had their own unique demands, which might not necessarily be agreed upon when put to Xia Duo.

Under these circumstances, Xia Duo should have consulted with that Great Arcanist, but the Seven Towers did not inform others of the demands, and such an information advantage could naturally bring an unspeakable advantage to the Seven Towers' negotiations.

So this second round of consultations could not continue after only four or five days. Everyone unanimously agreed to restart the Council of Great Arcanists, so everyone could sit together and discuss, not letting the Seven Towers take advantage.

It was just that they would not continue the previous topics, but discuss the Seven Towers' plan item by item.

This meeting was the most mentally exhausting meeting Xia Duo had ever attended in his life. They argued for more than half a month without reaching a consensus on all issues, yet these issues related to everyone's interests, not just the present but also the longer-term future.

Once the New Covenant was set, it would certainly not be easily modified. Like that recent version of the Old Covenant, it hadn't changed for hundreds of years. This New Covenant was more perfect, so even if the future developed rapidly, it wouldn't be moved every few years.

Just like that, the meeting stopped and started, and before they knew it, time had reached mid-July of Nese Li 839, when an unexpected yet reasonable piece of news suddenly disrupted the normal meeting process of Xia Duo and the others—

The Eaerlann Elf Ambassador cited relevant content of the Seville Covenant and requested to add an Eaerlann representative to the discussion agenda of the New Seville Covenant.

This was very headache-inducing. Legally, the Eaerlann Elf indeed possessed a separate seat in the Seven Cities Council, which was even better treatment than Netheril's own Great Arcanists.

But the reality was that Netheril's own family affairs were discussed behind closed doors, so why let Eaerlann meddle? It was no longer the era when Netheril was unable to resist Eaerlann!

The current Netheril was fully confident to say to Eaerlann—Get lost, go to hell!

But the covenant was right there, and the Eaerlann Ambassador even brought the copy of the covenant that Eaerlann had preserved back then. Even if it was just for show, they still should have gone through the motions!

But to just let Eaerlann meddle in like this, no one was willing, whether it was the Seven Towers or the other Great Arcanists including Xia Duo.